Science news

• Modeling sunlight harvesting in nanostructures

  30-07-2016 21:46
  To create the next generation of solar panels, scientists must model how complex interactions occur. Modeling across different scales provides needed insights. In a review article, scientists assessed the state of the art for calculations used to model electronic states in very thin films.
  
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• Hybrid perovskites: Super-ion building blocks

  30-07-2016 21:46
  More efficient solar cells will likely be based on a family of materials known as hybrid perovskites. Scientists identified how to control different properties and stability in these solar cell materials using lead-free preparation.
  
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• Diamonds help generate new record for static pressures for study

  30-07-2016 21:46
  An international team has devised a method for achieving 1 terapascal of static pressure - vastly higher than any previously reached.
  
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• A new leaf: Scientists turn carbon dioxide back into fuel

  30-07-2016 21:46
  Researchers have found a way to convert carbon dioxide into a usable energy source. Produced by the burning of fossil fuels in power plants and car engines, carbon dioxide continues to accumulate in the atmosphere, warming the planet. But trees and other plants do slowly capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, converting it to sugars that store energy.
  
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• Scientists grow mini human brains

  30-07-2016 21:45
  Mini midbrains provide next generation platforms to investigate human brain biology, diseases and therapeutics, report scientists.
  
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• Green polymer electrolyte based on N-phthaloylchitosan for dye-sensitized solar cells

  30-07-2016 21:45
  A green polymer derived from bio-waste was applied to the dye-sensitized solar cells by scientists in a new study. Chitosan obtained from the insects’ and crustaceans’ chitin was modified to produce the phthaloylchitosan electrolyte for the dye-sensitized solar cells with efficiency of more than 7%.
  
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• UNICEF pledges continued aid effort in Nigeria after convey attack

  30-07-2016 21:42
  United Nations children's agency UNICEF said it is continuing its aid work in northeastern Nigeria, a former stronghold of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, despite an attack on a humanitarian convoy earlier this week. Its statement followed an announcement on Thursday that UNICEF was temporarily suspending humanitarian assistance missions after a convoy was attacked and two aid workers injured as they returned to the northeastern city of Maiduguri after delivering aid in Bama. UNICEF's pledge
  
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• Google cares about emoji equality, but does it really matter?

  30-07-2016 17:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Google's announcement of 11 new emoji depicting women in different professional roles is the latest push for more diversity among the selection of tiny characters.
  
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• Emoji equality: Useless trend or meaningful push to encourage diversity?

  30-07-2016 17:00 via cbc.ca
  
  Google's announcement of 11 new emoji depicting women in different professional roles is the latest push for more diversity among the selection of tiny characters.
  
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• North America Has Only 1 True Species of Wolf, DNA Shows

  30-07-2016 15:22
  
  DNA tests of wolves across North America suggest that there is just one species of the canid: the gray wolf. What's more, populations of red wolves and eastern wolves, thought to be distinct species, are actually just hybrids of gray wolves and coyotes that likely emerged in the last couple hundred years, the study found. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday (July 27), could have implications for the conservation of wolves considered endangered in the United State
  
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• 4 Florida Zika Cases Were Likely Contracted in the US, Officials Say

  30-07-2016 15:21
  Three men and a woman in Florida became infected with the Zika virus, likely after being bitten by mosquitoes in the area, officials said today (July 29). The cases, which are in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, mark the first time that anyone has caught Zika from mosquitoes in the United States. The patients did not travel to another country where Zika is spreading, and did not have sex with a person who had Zika, ruling out these routes of transmission, officials said.
  
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• Fungal Disease 'Valley Fever' Is Often Misdiagnosed

  30-07-2016 15:20
  A fungal infection called valley fever, which can cause mild to severe lung problems (including holes in the lungs), is often misdiagnosed because the symptoms can resemble those of the flu or other illness, experts say. The misdiagnoses can lead to unnecessary medications that don't treat the fungal infection, according to new guidelines from the Infectious Diseases Society of America. The guidelines stress that primary care doctors should consider the possibility of valley fever in patients wh
  
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• May had objections to Hinkley Point, says Cable

  30-07-2016 14:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Theresa May had "objections" to a new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point during the days of the coalition, says the then Business Secretary Sir Vince Cable.
  
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• Milky Way Shines in Orange Over Mauna Kea (Photo)

  30-07-2016 14:20
  
  On a tranquil Hawaii vacation, astrophotographer Mike Beck took a chance road trip — where he captured this image of the glimmering orange night sky. "Lucky enough to be in Hawaii where I rented a car and drove up to the Ellison Onizuka Astronomy Center [June 28] at Mauna Kea and I was richly rewarded," Beck wrote in an email to Space.com. The Milky Way, the galaxy containing our own solar system , is a barred spiral galaxy with roughly 400 billion stars.
  
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• George Takei, William Shatner Help NASA Celebrate Apollo 11 Anniversary

  30-07-2016 14:20
  
  A convergence of reality and science fiction took center stage here July 23 during a salute to the 47th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing and the 50th anniversary of the iconic "Star Trek" television show and follow-on franchise. The occasion raised funds for Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin's ShareSpace Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring children to be passionate about science, technology, engineering, the arts and math. The anniversary gala was hosted by George
  
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• Plastic bag use plummets in England since 5p charge

  30-07-2016 13:41 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Shoppers in England are on target to use six billion fewer plastic bags in the first year since a 5p charge for them was introduced, government data suggests.
  
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• The Chemistry of Bumper Crops [Excerpt]

  30-07-2016 13:00 via rss.sciam.com
  
  Irrigation is more than just throwing water on a field—it can be a nuanced chemical conversation between humans and plants
  -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
  
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• Employers now responsible for protecting their workers on social media

  30-07-2016 11:00 via cbc.ca
  
  A recent labour ruling is setting a precedent for companies that use social media to respond to customer complaints.
  
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• Lettuce towers and office block farms - is this the future?

  30-07-2016 10:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Towers of lettuce and pak choi, or a three-storey farm in an office building - could this be the future of farming?
  
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• Australia moving up in the world... literally

  30-07-2016 10:00
  Australia will adjust its latitude and longitude, a government science body says, to put the vast country into alignment with global navigation satellite systems.
  
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• New Yorkers flock to foul flower

  30-07-2016 03:13 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A rare, and extremely pungent. 'corpse flower' has bloomed in New York Botanical Garden.
  
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• Drop in little terns numbers concerns RSPB

  30-07-2016 01:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The RSPB is concerned after the number of little terns nesting in the UK's biggest colony dropped by almost half.
  
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• Quantum theory and Einstein's special relativity applied to plasma physics issues

  30-07-2016 01:01
  Among the intriguing issues in plasma physics are those surrounding X-ray pulsars -- collapsed stars that orbit around a cosmic companion and beam light at regular intervals, like lighthouses in the sky. Physicists want to know the strength of the magnetic field and density of the plasma that surrounds these pulsars, which can be millions of times greater than the density of plasma in stars like the sun. Researchers have developed a theory of plasma waves that can infer these properties in great
  
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